HEDONISTIC: Relating to pleasure

WELLNESS: Being healthy in body and mind, especially as the result of deliberate effort

HEDONISTIC WELLNESS: Coaching that helps you live more healthily, without feeling like you’re in a straitjacket

(Hint: It's not just about food)

“Most health coaches help you with knowledge they've gleaned from books. Others, the best, also use the wisdom they've gained from life experiences — Robin is one of these. Along the way, she's assembled a rare combination of knowledge, empathy and a very grounded sense of humor. This makes her coaching intensive, heartfelt and transformative.” — Michael F. Cantwell, MD, MPH (formerly lead physician at the pioneering Institute for Health & Healing, now in private practice)

You probably think that living healthier means deprivation and dejection. But it doesn't have to. The path to wellness can be enjoyable. Yes, really! It's not just knowing that you’re taking steps to be healthier. The actual process can be delicious. Pleasurable. Empowering.

There’s a Chinese proverb which I wish I remembered more accurately. The essence of it is: “If you attend to the weakest part, you will find health”.

We all have weak parts — some genetic, some habitual. I can help you figure out where you’re out of balance, and help you back on the road to equilibrium.

I didn't expect to end up on this path. But a wise man — who for many years was the lead physician at California Pacific Medical Center's Institute for Health & Healing — made the observation that health coaching was the perfect blend of my skills, experience and strengths. That's his quote above. He was right. Here’s why:

My favorite part of being a journalist was interviewing someone: getting a sense of their story, finding the patterns. We all have them. Some good; some not so much. Partly by training, partly by nature, I became adept at reading and listening between the lines.* Combine that with the fact that my body is super-sensitive and you have an unexpectedly useful equation. Because I've been there too, I have enormous respect and compassion for people who are trying to find better balance. I believe in living well. And living healthily. Yes, you can do both. I'm Robin J. Schwartz and I can help.

*See my New York Magazine profile of Mary-Louise Parker — written when the world was just beginning to catch on to how cool she is. (Click HERE to go directly to the article.)